Australians urged not to ignore heart attack symptoms

The Heart Foundation says people are dying because they wait too long to seek treatment for heart attacks.

Research by the foundation indicates that one in eight people having a heart attack wait 24 hours before attending a hospital.

The foundation's national CEO, Dr Lyn Roberts, says half of all heart attack deaths happen before a person reaches hospital.

She says medical professionals would prefer if people over-reacted to the warning signs of a heart attack, rather than wait.

"They're embarrassed, they think they'll be embarrassed if they actually call an ambulance and get to hospital and find that it's a false alarm," she said.

"And yet the ambulance service and the hospitals actually tell us that's exactly the outcome that they want.

"It's much better to come in and find that it isn't a problem than actually leave it too late and go on to have a heart attack, or even a cardiac arrest.

"If you're experiencing the warning signs - which can be pain, pressure, heaviness or tightness in one or more parts of the upper body - and it's not just the chest, it can be in the neck, jaw, shoulders or back.

"If that's combined with other symptoms such as nausea, shortness of breath, dizziness or a cold sweat, then we think you should get help immediately."

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